Back when I was student there, I was attending a football game at Gardner -Webb College . It was a beautiful fall day for the game. Our team “The Running Bulldogs” entered the stadium, with the cheerleaders and our mascot, a real bulldog leading the way. At that precise moment, they fired a cannon….and a loud ”BOOM” rocked the stadium…and our beloved mascot passed out..He quit running and this started a chain reaction, stopping the parade of cheerleaders and football players and coaches behind him. It was quite a traffic jam on the field. Everyone immediately stopped to see if the bulldog was okay. Even the fans in the stands, stood to see how he was doing, everything got real quiet. In a few moments, the mascot awoke from this trauma and stood up and began to shake it off as if he had just had a bath.We all stood up and cheered for the bulldog! Fortunately, he recovered and stayed for the game, taking his regular spot on the sidelines.Some things can happen to us as well, things that can knock us off our feet. We need to be like that bulldog, recover and stay in the game. The bulldog couldn’t control what happened to him …but he could control his response to the situation. Sometimes we just need to shake it off (sounds like Taylor Swift’s hit song, doesn’t it). He adapted and adjusted to the situation even though he really could not understand it all.

I don’t know what unexpected crisis or disappointment has entered your life, maybe it is a health issue you or someone close to you is facing or some other discouraging situation, but I do know…it is very important how you and I respond to it. It really is unrealistic to think we can control everything around us all the time. Charles Swindoll has said it best…”Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it. Refuse to let your situation determine your attitude.”

It might not be easy, and it may take some time and some help from others but we can recover as the Lord guides us and helps us through the shock and the hurt. As I often like to say…Life isn’t always easy and isn’t always fair, but God still loves you and God still cares! That can mean a lot when fear and discouragement surrounds you and I. We aren’t meant to handle everything in our own strength. God really wants to be there for us if we would simply turn to Him and trust Him. ..”You can throw the full weight of your anxieties upon Him, for YOU are HIS personal concern.” -1Peter 5:7 (Phillips Translation)